Status of Women (Stalin)

• • Suffered workplace discrimination, seen as a bad omen by male colleagues.
  • Policy of Great Retreat, anti-lesbian, anti-contraception, anti-abortion.
  • After WW2, women demobilised, seen as a reserve army of labour by Stalin, women veterans denied from military academies.
• • During WW2, 75% of industrial workforce was women.
  • In 1928, only 12% of Communist Party delegates were women.
  • Women workers paid 60% less than men for the same work.
• Status of women under Stalin overview

  • Depictions in propaganda.
  • Women at War.
  • Women at Work.
  • The Great Retreat.
• Depictions in propaganda

  • During Five Year Plans, men industrial workers were the main focus of propaganda posters - women were represented either as mothers or young girls.
  • Feminine traits ridiculed; Sergei Eisenstein's film 'October' aimed to insult women soldiers who fought against the Bolsheviks.
  • Women presented as motherly figures who rely on male protection.
• Women at War

  • Empowering propaganda; women portrayed extensively on WW2 propaganda posters; vital role of women in the war praised via 'Motherland is Calling' statue.
  • Propaganda still presented women as vulnerable; in 1942, Pravda publishes images of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya - an 18 year old girl tortured and murdered by German soldiers. Her mother toured the country appealing to defend women and the 'motherland'.
  • After WW2; women praised in official speeches as 'Devushkivoiny' or 'girl-warriors'.
• Women at Work

  • Women joined labour force due to demands of the Five Year Plans; in 1928 only 3 million women worked in industry versus over 13 million in 1940.
  • Higher and technical education opportunities; in 1940, over 40% of places in higher or technical education was reserved for women.
  • Double standard; women paid 60-65% less than men for the same jobs.
  • In some towns during WW2, 75% of the workforce were women.
• The Great Retreat

  • Stability in society; Stalin aimed to increase birth rates and decrease divorce rates.
  • Conservative decrees; abortion was criminalised except if mother's life was in danger; contraception banned; male homosexuality punishable by 5 years in prison.
  • Divorce; divorce made expensive - cost one week's wages; men had to pay 1/3 of their income to support children.
  • Pro-natal policy; women with 7 children received 2000 roubles a year for 5 years.